Before the Mountain Gate

The mountain path lay within the sphere of influence of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect.

Here, disciples of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect frequently patrolled the mountains; it could be said that this place was far safer than anywhere else in the Great Ming Dynasty.

No one dared to cause trouble here!

This was the iron law of the entire cultivation world on the Southern Heaven Continent.

Precisely because of this, Steward Li felt no great concern upon arriving here. Even experts at the Golden Core stage would not dare to stir up trouble within the territory of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect!

This was the majesty of a great immortal sect—those who touched it would die!

On the first mountain peak, there were many flower beds and medicinal gardens scattered throughout the slopes. Li Yunjing spotted a ginseng field several hundred feet away, and a rich, medicinal fragrance drifted over on the breeze.

Taking a single breath of it made Li Yunjing feel invigorated.

"I never expected there to be medicinal gardens here as well?"

His eyes went wide, and Li Yunjing could not help but ask aloud.

If not for the impropriety of the situation, Li Yunjing would have loved to scramble over the ridges and ditches, hacking through the vegetation to enter the garden and harvest to his heart's content.

If all these ginseng plants were given to him, he couldn't even imagine how much his martial arts cultivation would improve; even his Qi Refining stage cultivation would see a significant boost.

"Heh heh! These ginseng plants have a growth cycle of at least a hundred years. In the mortal world, they would be treasures that the powerful and wealthy would break their heads fighting over."

Steward Li looked at Li Yunjing with a meaningful gaze, smiled, and added, "However, these things are worthless in the Divine Firmament Dao Sect; they are the most common of goods."

"If you kid manage to enter the sect and become a true disciple, you won't even look twice at these things."

Finally, Steward Li said with a chuckle.

"So that's how it is! I never imagined a great immortal sect would have such resources! If I were still in the mortal world, I wouldn't even dare to dream of this!"

Li Yunjing nodded in admiration. This time, he had truly broadened his horizons.

Such items were treated like mere weeds, planted outside the sect gates. It was certainly as Steward Li had said: to the Divine Firmament Dao Sect, they were worthless trifles.

So this was the atmosphere of a great immortal sect!

"Let's go! If you kid can manage to join the Divine Firmament Dao Sect, you'll be set for life."

Steward Li looked at Li Yunjing, his expression incredibly complex.

He wondered if this little nobody before him had the fate to succeed!

He knew that he himself had tried once, but had failed due to his spiritual roots.

The three mountain peaks were ten miles apart.

However, the mountain paths were winding and not easy to traverse.

"Looking at a mountain while the horse runs itself to death"—this was Li Yunjing's true experience.

Whether it was Yu Yunyi, Steward Li, or even the weakest of them, Ling'er, Li Yunjing was a cultivator or a martial arts expert; there was not a single weakling among the four.

Yet, even these experts took over an hour to reach their destination.

From this, one could see just how far the outer mountains were from Guest-Welcoming Peak!

And by connecting Guest-Welcoming Peak to the entire Divine Firmament Mountain Range, one could see just how massive this famous immortal mountain truly was.

The sun set in the west, and the horizon was blanketed in red clouds.

The four of them finally arrived before a peak that stood a thousand zhang tall.

The area was filled with ancient pines, lush cypresses, waterfalls, and flowing springs.

Pavilions and towers stood one after another, rising between the mountainside and the summit.

At the very top of the towering peak, there was a heavenly pool with rippling green waves, and beside it stood an even more magnificent, white jade-like building.

This structure was faintly shrouded in clouds and mist, making it impossible to see exactly what it was.

As they climbed toward Guest-Welcoming Peak, they frequently saw spiritual birds and beasts—cranes, golden eagles, white deer, white tigers, jade rabbits, and peacocks—leaping and soaring about the mountain.

These spiritual creatures did not attack when they saw the four of them; it seemed they were raised by the Divine Firmament Dao Sect and had lost their wild nature.

All of this left Li Yunjing dumbfounded.

"Stop staring. This is merely the 'Guest-Welcoming Peak' of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect! It's just the mountain gate!"

Seeing Li Yunjing's look of provincial ignorance, Yu Yunyi couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.

"This is just a mountain gate?"

Li Yunjing was somewhat dazed. Looking out, he saw countless fields of lingzhi, polygonatum, ginseng, and fleeceflower root arranged across the mountain, producing hundreds of thousands of spiritual herbs.

The air was thick with the scent of medicine, and this was just the entrance to the sect?

One had to know that in the mortal world, a single stalk of such heavenly material would cause people to fight until they bled, and countless would be willing to give their lives for it!

Yet here, it seemed as if there was an endless supply!

Li Yunjing swallowed hard. At this moment, he didn't even care that Yu Yunyi was mocking him; he truly felt like a frog at the bottom of a well.

The Divine Firmament Dao Sect was shattering his worldview again and again!

"Sigh! I never imagined that this was what the Immortal Dao was truly like!"

"No wonder everyone says it's good to be an immortal! I must join the sect no matter what, cultivate here in peace, and seek eternal life."

If Li Yunjing were to return to the secular world and share such a scene with others, they would surely think he was bragging or spinning tall tales.

This had already transcended the understanding of the mundane world.

In this moment, Li Yunjing knew he had to bid farewell to the mortal realm; no matter what, he had to join the Divine Firmament Dao Sect!

Only Yu Yunyi and Steward Li appeared relatively composed; clearly, both of them had seen such medicinal fields within their own families and possessed some resistance to this sight.

Following the mountain path, they arrived at the summit of Guest-Welcoming Peak. Aside from the stone-paved trail, only a massive white jade gate stood tall upon the peak.

So, the tallest structure I saw earlier wasn't some immortal palace, but a gateway!

At this moment, Li Yunjing realized he had been mistaken before.

Inscribed upon the stone gate were four gold-leafed characters: "Divine Firmament Dao Sect."

Li Yunjing took one look and felt that these four characters were incredibly miraculous, firmly drawing his consciousness into them.

Just as Li Yunjing was deeply immersed, a Daoist in purple robes appeared within his sea of consciousness, holding an immortal sword and hovering in the void. As the Daoist chanted, thunderclouds instantly gathered in the sky, and a bolt of lightning, drawn down by the immortal sword, shattered a mountain peak on the earth below.

The vision vanished from Li Yunjing's sea of consciousness at that point.

He then returned to his normal state.

At this time, Li Yunjing looked at the three-zhang-tall gate and immediately revealed an expression of awe.

Li Yunjing knew that the characters on the mountain gate of the Divine Firmament Dao Sect contained Daoist rhyme; if someone were to comprehend it, they could see something extraordinary within.

What Li Yunjing did not know was that everyone's comprehension was different, and thus what they saw differed as well.

Yu Yunyi, like him, also felt the Daoist rhyme contained within, only it was not the art of thunder...